The use and effects of color and imagery on emotion and mood may have been considered in a variety of fields for many years. For example, a “green room” is often provided for guests prior to a television appearance in an attempt to calm the guest. As a further example, and with regard to athletic sport facilities, the locker room for the opposing team may be painted pink in an general attempt to make the team more subdued. A further example might include the usage of dark colored jerseys, such as the dark uniforms of the Oakland Raiders™ football team, which may be utilized in a general attempt to bolster the team's aggressiveness and in hopes of frightening the opposing team.
Sports, in particular, often incorporate various psychologic and physiologic aspects that individually affect participant performance, such as an individual's ability to focus on the particular action or function required during participation in the sport. The participant's psychologic and physiologic state may ultimately affect the participant's performance and the outcome of the athletic event. In golf, for example, the individual must concentrate on striking a small ball with a club, swinging with sufficient force to allow satisfactory advancement of the ball, while maintaining a consistent swing of the club to allow for sufficient force to be applied and to provide sufficient control over ball trajectory. It is generally considered that many of the above factors regarding the club swing may be affected to a large extent by the participant's psychologic and physiologic state prior to and during performance of the sport, especially during the club swing, and the effect such state has on performance.
Sports equipment manufactures, such as golf club manufactures, have provided various finishes to their clubs. One significant problem is that while there are different finishes on sports equipment, the finishes do not address the psychological or physiological state of the individual as previously mentioned, especially during performance. For example, there are painting techniques used on golf clubs as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,022,706 (and subsequent U.S. Pat. No. 5,805,245) that use thermochromic liquid crystals that will allow the golfer to see where on the club head the ball is struck using the heat produced at the point of impact. Furthermore, there are techniques such as those disclosed in U.S. Publication No. 2002/0032073 (U.S. application Ser. No. 09/246,976) to apply durable finishes into which limited colors can be added to create a diamond-like carbon decorative coating for metals. While such methods may give feedback after the ball is hit, or may provide durability and limited color options, respectively, these processes do not affect or enhance the performance of the participant by particularly addressing the individual's psychologic or physiologic state, especially during the performance of a sport such as golf, or induce a response that affects or enhances performance, especially prior to or during play.
One golf club manufacture provides a particular finish to the club head of the club, in an attempt to help the individual frame the ball with the club head at address. The finish of the club, referred to as a GunMetal™ finish, is provided on the club head, as shown and described in the heretofore cited website reference and as provided by Cleveland Golf™. Although the attempt appears to be directed to the mechanical aspect of using the club, the finish does not address the individual's psychologic or physiologic state, does not affect or enhance the performance of the participant relative to such psychologic or physiologic state, especially during the performance of the sport, and is not directed to the inducement of a response that affects or enhances performance, especially prior to or during play.
Again, using golf as but one example, there are techniques to apply printing on the head of the golf club, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,337,670, and techniques to etch the metal surfaces of the golf club after fabrication, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,800,285, but again, neither of these processes address the psychological or physiological state of the individual, does not affect or enhance the performance of the participant relative to such psychologic or physiologic state, especially during the performance of the sport, and is not directed to the inducement of a response that affects or enhances performance, especially prior to or during play. The techniques also may not address aspects of color or imagery as performance enhancements.
A recognized need exists, therefore, in sports, such as golf, to address the psychologic and physiologic aspects that affect individual participant performance, especially during the performance of the sport. There has always been the desire to improve individual performance in sports, particularly individual performance during participation. However, there has been no satisfactory mode of affecting or enhancing the performance of the participant, or of inducing enhancement, particularly addressing the individual's psychologic or physiologic state, especially during the performance of a sport such as golf. Therefore, an unmet need exists for techniques that address the psychologic or physiologic state of the individual, especially during the performance of the sport, and the inducement of a response that affects or enhances performance, especially prior to or during play.
Furthermore, the use and effects of color and imagery for marketing purposes may have been considered in a variety of fields for many years. In sports and the sports equipment industry, insignias, colors, images, and other indicia have been used to designate the manufacturer of the equipment, the team or individual utilizing the equipment, and sponsors of the event, team or individual. One example of such use of color or imagery may include the jerseys supplied to professional athletic teams, such as the Denver Broncos™, or vehicles utilized in NASCAR™ events.
Individuals or groups may have utilized the sports equipment in an attempt to market goods or services or the source thereof, potentially, but not necessarily, related to the use of or association with the equipment or the team or individual utilizing the equipment. One example are the decals or other insignias applied to vehicles utilized in NASCAR™ events, as previously mentioned, designating the sponsors, the vehicle, the driver, and the race team.
In golf, clubs and other golf equipment may be manufactured and configured having etching, stickers, paint, or the like, as previously described, that designate the manufacturer, that have mechanical function, such as color or etching to line up a club head to the golf ball and to frame the ball at address, or that provide a limited color selection for the general populous of consumers. The etching, stickers, paint, or the like, may correspond with a trademark or trade dress of the manufacturer or representative of the manufacturer. However, such etching, stickers, paint, or the like of clubs or other golf equipment do not provide satisfactory indicia to designate other goods, sources or services, potentially related to the use of or association with the club or other golf equipment, or marketing apart from that of the manufacturer, representatives of the manufacturer, and the club or other equipment itself. Furthermore, such configured indicia do not adequately address the expressive needs or desires of the individual consumer, leaving the selection of indicia to that which is limitedly provided by the manufacturer.
Marketing systems, golf marketing systems, and golf equipment such as golf clubs, in particular, have not heretofore met the above identified marketing needs or provided the level of customization or configuration potentially desired by the individual consumer in a golf device. Further, such systems and equipment have not heretofore met the identified needs for affecting or enhancing the performance of the participant, or inducing enhancement, particularly addressing the individual's psychologic or physiologic state, and especially during the performance of a sport such as golf, as previously described.